Having a low credit score can cost you thousands on interest and missed opportunities over a lifetime. If you want to get your credit score up by 300+ points, copy these 5 steps now!
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Many years ago, my credit score was only 515.
I was constantly denied for any credit lines that I applied for.
My low credit score also prevented me from living in the housing communities I wanted to live.
It may have also cost me a couple of jobs I applied for.
If you want to know how to get your credit score up, copy the 5 things I did to increase my credit score by over 300 points!
Here’s the 5 steps I took to improve my credit score to 820 points.
Step 1: Check Your Credit Score
Fear is a powerful emotion.
It can literally stop you in your tracks and keep you from doing many things.
For many years, I went without checking my credit for fear of what I would find on there.
I knew it was bad as clearly evidenced by the many things I was being denied for, based on my credit.
However, in a way, it felt like if I didn’t check it and I didn’t know I was there, then it wasn’t real.
This did not help.
For many years I let my credit sit unchanged because of fear. Don’t let this happen to you!
After all, you can’t improve something you don’t know.
You can’t improve something you don’t know. Click To Tweet
Eventually, I dug my head out of the sand. I took a big step and I checked my credit.
Once I knew what was wrong with it, I was able to start improving.
Action Step:
Challenge yourself to check your credit even if you have been afraid to do so.
To check your credit, you can go straight to myFICO and get all three of your credit scores from the different credit bureaus.
You can also use a free credit monitoring service such as Credit Karma.
It only takes a few minutes but provides you with invaluable information!
Step 2: Check for, and Dispute, Errors
The next thing I did was check my credit report for any errors.
To my surprise, I found quite a few!
There were a couple of incorrect addresses and names, which were pretty easy to fix, but there were also more concerning items.
I found three accounts showing as past due when they were really in good standing. I contacted the lenders immediately and was able to have this corrected within two business cycles.
This alone improved my credit score significantly over a short period of time.
Unfortunately, I also realized that my financial information was used without my authorization to open up several accounts.
I had been a victim of identity theft!
Had I checked my credit sooner, I probably could have minimized the damage.
This is why I can’t stress enough how important it is to check your credit regularly!
Anyway, I placed a fraud alert and a credit freeze on my credit to prevent further damage.
Then, I began the difficult task of removing the fraudulent accounts from my credit.
It took longer than I expected, but after several months, those accounts removed.
This also helped my credit score significantly!
Action Step:
Once you get your credit report, look through it carefully for anything that may look suspicious.
Different name variations, unknown addresses, or accounts that you don’t recognize may be an indication of something fishy going on.
Aside from that, check your credit report for reporting errors such as on time payments marked as late, or credit inquiries that you haven’t requested.
All these items add up and can lower down your credit score greatly.
Check your report carefully!
File a dispute for each error either with the credit bureaus directly or through a credit monitoring service.
Related Content:
6 Mistakes that are Killing Your Credit Score
5 Quick DIY Credit Repair Solutions
The Beginner’s Guide to How Credit Scores Work
Step 3: Start Paying Your Bills on Time
Paying my bills on time helped me increase my credit score significantly!
It seems simple, but derogatory marks on your credit are really damaging.
I couldn’t make all my monthly payments at the time.
So what did I do?
For the first several months, I relied on making payment arrangements with my creditors.
I negotiated paying the bare minimum that they would take before they reported the monthly payment as missed or as late.
Whenever possible, I also negotiated a longer repayment period.
Although this cost me on interest, I needed this to finally get ahead.
Did it work?
Eventually, as I paid off the bills, I was able to cover the monthly bills with little difficulty.
Paying your bills on time helps on two fronts.
First, it helps you avoid derogatory marks on your credit report.
Second, as long as you’re not adding more to your existing balances, paying down your debts helps improve your credit utilization ratio.
This ratio tells creditors how much of your available credit you are currently using.
This accounts for about 30% of your total credit score!
Your credit utilization ratio accounts for about 30% of your overall credit score. Paying down your credit cards is the single most impactful thing you can do to get your credit score up today! #creditscoreClick To Tweet
If you have a credit card with a $1,000 credit limit and you owe a balance of $800 on it, then your credit utilization ratio for on that card is 80%.
The ideal is to keep your ratio as a whole to less than 30%.
Paying down your credit cards and other debts helps to improve this fairly quickly.
Having credit monitoring through myFICO, I was able to determine which cards needed my attention and monitor my progress on a monthly basis.
I also picked up some side gigs just to have some extra cash for the bills that were past due. Since I was a single mom at the time, I had limited options for side jobs.
Thankfully, I was able to get a couple of babysitting jobs that I could do while I was with my son and several personal assistant gigs that I could do at my lunch time.
Action Step:
Check your credit report for any accounts that are past due but not yet in collections.
Try to work something out with the lender or creditor to bring them up to date. Suggest a payment arrangement or a time extension if possible.
If you get denied the first time, don’t be afraid to call back or speak to a manager. Chances are you’ll eventually find a rep that is willing to work with you!
Step 4: Settle Accounts in Collection
When I first started cleaning up my credit score, I had over 20 accounts in collections… Yikes!
Some were small, between $50 and $200, while some were a couple thousand dollars.
I figured I’d have a better chance to negotiate if I had some money to play around with, so with the income from the side jobs I was working, I saved up some money and started calling the collections agencies.
In most cases, I was able to negotiate a settlement amount.
If you’d like to learn more about how I raised my credit by over 300 points, check out my free Quick Start Guide here!
A word of caution:
I didn’t bother with a couple of the accounts I had in collections because they were almost 7 years old. You see, after seven years, negative things such as accounts in collections fall off your credit.
However, if you make any attempt to pay on them, that clock “resets” and the seven years start over again!
Before calling any collections agencies, verify when the account was placed in collections. If it’s close to the 7 year mark, you’re better off leaving it alone and allowing it to drop off.
Step 5: Hold off on Getting New Credit
Applying for several credit lines in a short period of time can have a negative impact on your credit.
This is why I timed, and spaced out, my credit applications.
This not only meant credit card applications and the like.
It meant being more aware of any other company that may want to check my credit.
For example, I wanted to switch cell phone carriers at one point.
However, when I inquired about it, I realized they would have to pull my credit in order to offer me their regular monthly plans instead of the prepaid ones.
Since I wasn’t entirely unhappy with my carrier at the time, I just held off on switching until an older credit inquiry fell off my credit report.
How about you? What steps have you taken to raise your credit score? Let me know in the comments section below!
Action Item:
Be aware of any applications you fill out!
Make sure to find out if the creditor will affect your credit by recording an inquiry on it.
Avoid applying for department store cards or any other type of credit while you’re cleaning up your score, unless you’re purposely applying for a card to transfer your balances to a lower interest rate card.
There you have it!
These 5 simple steps were how I was able to get my credit score up by more than 300 points.
Some of these tips helped me increase my score quite fast, while others took time, patience, and perseverance.
If you want to get your credit score up, start by checking your credit, examining your report carefully for errors and opportunities to improve, and act on them!
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